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Apple says that Apple Pay will be available at a wide range of retailers, including Macy's and McDonald's, among others, sometime in October. It would have been nice to have the feature now so I could test it out, but look for more insight into Apple Pay when it launches in October.

Apple also surprised many in the technology industry when it said that it had discovered a bug in its HealthKit platform and would not allow the release of any apps relying on HealthKit until it was addressed. That resulted in many developers needing to push back the launch of their apps and made the new Health app in iOS 8 all but useless.

I spent some time with Health to see how it works and to determine whether or not it will be of any value to me at some point in the future. For now, it requires users to input their own data on weight, height, Body Mass Index and blood type, among other vital information. It doesn't perform any calculations, however.

Health does track steps, flights of stairs and distance traveled. While the feature is handy, it's something that is by no means groundbreaking. At this point, Health is little more than a novelty—something I hope will change when Apple finally allows HealthKit apps to hit the App Store.

Further reading

It's hard to categorize this next concern as a disappointment, per se, but I feel it could be far too easy to damage the iPhone 6 Plus. While Apple has said that its display is reinforced and the case itself is hardened, it feels slick in the hands and has almost slipped out on a few occasions. Having a protective add-on case is definitely something that you should invest in.

Final Thoughts

Apple's iPhone 6 Plus is overall a great device. While some Android device owners look at the phablet and say—perhaps with some justification—that they've had many of the same features for years, Apple provides a device that doesn't feel old or outdated in any way. Quite the contrary, the iPhone 6 Plus feels fresh and on par with some of the larger smartphones available from other companies.

Apple has once again found a way to deliver to customers a product that hits all the right points without making too many missteps. And while it would have been nice if the device had a higher-resolution camera or worked with Apple Pay and HealthKit out of the box, those are comparatively small complaints.

The iPhone 6 Plus is, at least in the eyes of this longtime iPhone owner, the best smartphone Apple has ever launched.